By: Courtney Byrne Last summer we went away for 1 month. We were flying to Italy which meant we were not packing a car: we had to pack what we wanted to fly with. To make the packing situation a little crazier… we would be changing locations several times during the month via train. Packing as little as possible was… Read More
I promised myself I would write more while we were in Italy last summer. I didn’t nearly as much as I hoped. It wasn’t really a lack of time because it was quite a relaxing month and the kids were exhausted and went to bed early almost every night. Me, being the night owl I am, never did. I think… Read More
By: Courtney Byrne Every time I forward this email to another person I think “I need to make this a blog post”. So today I am finally sitting down to share some of my favorite places to eat in Florence with kids. I say places to eat with kids, because I write about family travel and because most of the… Read More
By: Courtney Byrne People often ask me if traveling with kids is worth it: will they remember it? Is it totally exhausting? Does it even slightly feel like a vacation? I asked my girls if I could share the gift they got for Christmas this year because I think it helps explain why I think travel is important and why… Read More
When I was planning our trip to Italy with kids, Florence was the city I knew we would stay in the longest. It’s where I lived when studying abroad and where I knew I’d feel very comfortable with this kids. While I was comfortable getting around the city and knew many spots to take the kids, I also knew there… Read More
I’m going to be totally honest, I did not want to add Venice to our Italy itinerary. I was there many years ago and remember it being hard to navigate and I didn’t have 4 kids in tow. I also heard it was VERY hot and VERY crowded in the summer. But when I asked my husband one spot he… Read More
It’s been a week since we “moved out” of our Florence apartment and we still miss it so much. Maybe because it’s the longest we ever rented one HomeAway vacation rental, but it really started to feel like home! It was one of the best rental experiences we’ve ever had and I would highly recommend this family vacation rental in… Read More
First off, the reason I left Tuscany off the itinerary was that it seemed unreachable without renting a car or hiring a car. Second, I underestimated how crowded and hot the cities would be in the summer. Don’t get me wrong, we are loving Florence (it will always be my favorite city!) but the kids… Read More
Can you believe I am writing about our Italy trip now and not 8-10 months from now? I promised myself I would write and share photos along the way because a month long trip would have way too many details to remember if I don’t write them down. I’ll share some memories and photos along the way with some info… Read More
It’s June 1st. That means we leave for Italy THIS MONTH. Tonight I’m sharing a list of Italy books: travel books and kids books we’ve been reading all the time. I am so excited and also getting really nervous: how on earth am I going to pack for 4 kids for a month? Have I planned enough? Have I planned… Read More